This is one that is close to a lot of our readers hearts and it seems that when it comes to the UMD transfer issue they are in the minority. According to Sony, the demand for the capability just isn’t there based on what they have seen in Japan. According to Shuhei Yoshida, there is much more demand in Japan for a feature that allows users to download digital versions of their PSP UMD games to their PlayStation Vita. Because of this demand, there is a program that facilitates that in Japan, but due to limited demand Sony won’t be making that program available in the US or Europe. Yoshida went on to explain that UMD transfers are a bigger issue for Japanese gamers because the PSP has been much more successful there than it has been in either of the Western countries and there are still titles being released for it. Another big driver is the fact gamers in the West pay less for UMD than folks in Japan and it won’t cost them significantly more to buy new versions that it would to pay the fee to transfer their existing UMD’s. I don’t know if Yoshida is completely accurate though because their are still PSP titles up on PSN that are selling for $40 which makes them just as expensive as brand new PlayStation Vita titles.

So what say you folks, is there really not enough demand for UMD transfer in the US and Europe or is Yoshida and Sony just blowing smoke?

I am the Co-Ceo of DLT Digital Media. We are a company that is focused on developing new and innovative web properties in addition to developing WordPress based web sites for others. But before I was all that, I was a gamer.